See You In A Minute
by sheistheblackwidow
Summary: In which Nat and Steve are married with a newborn son. Will follow the timeline in which Nat jumps and they try to bring her back while at the same time also bring everyone else back.
1. See You In A Minute

"See you in a minute"

She smirked at him and he pulled her back to him and covered her mouth with his. She kissed back with a strength he didn't know she had.

She then leaned up and smiled at the tiny blue eyed human in her husband's arms.

"_увидимся через минуту моя детка"_ she kissed her son's blonde head and walked to stand next to Tony and Clint.

"Nat… please come back to us." He knew something felt weird about the way she was acting but he didn't know what.

"I will. I promise." She had to lie to him, if he knew what she knew he'd take her place. It had to be her. No one else deserved the kind of end she knew one of them would meet. So she lied smoothly through her teeth to her husband and child.

"Everyone ready? Lets go."

They all switched their watches to sync with the correct timelines and they were off.

**VORMIR 2014**

The three of them landed on Vormir after having dropped off Nebula and Rhodey and immediately set towards the lone mountain in the middle of the wasteland of a planet.

She was ready for what was to come. She'd already made her peace, she just had one thing she needed to ensure.

"The stone demands a sacrifice."

"Wait. You've got to be kidding me right? Are You guys hearing this? A sacrifice?" Tony was admandant that Red Skull was playing some sort of prank on them.

"That can't be right. We would have heard about it when Nebula had told us about how to get it." Clint was next with a rebuttal about how this must be a sham.

"She did say Thanos returned without her sister when he got the stone. It's not a prank or sham or anything. One of us has to sacrifice ourselves." She already knew which one it would be. She was inching closer to the edge as she was talking hoping they were none the wiser.

"No! No! No. There HAS got to be another way Nat. No one is sacrificing themselves for this damn stone. We don't trade lives. We will figure out another way to get the stone." Tong was realizing she was doing something. Distracting them…

"Nat… no. No."

"It has to be me. Don't you see? I-I am the only one that can do it because I have nothing to lose. Steve and James will be fine. They'll have you guys. All of you guys. When you get everyone back it'll be worth it. You'll see."

"No Nat. You have a family to get back to. A newborn son who hasn't even gotten to know his mother. A husband who is no doubt already back and waiting for you with him. You can't do this to them. I will do it. Not you. It can not be you. I promised I'd bring you back. YOU stood there and promised Steve and your baby that you would come back! How could you do that?" Clint was yelling now and he wasn't even close to stopping.

"Wait- Nat, you knew about the sacrifice didn't you? You were saying goodbye. You knew and that's why you volunteered." Tony had figured it out.

It was too late though, she thought as she jumped over the last pile of rocks separating her and the bottom of the cliff.

She was expecting to go right over but two hands surged forward and grabbed her before she could go completely over. She cursed inwardly and stared up at her two teammates.

"We don't trade lives Nat! We don't!"

"Please… You have to let me go. They'll understand. It had to be done. It had to be me that did it. No one else. No one else. Its okay."

"We can't let you do this." They tried pulling her up but she planted all her weight and wouldn't allow them to do it. She wasn't coming back up no matter what they tried.

"Just, tell Steve I'm sorry. Please. Tell both of them. I had to do it. To save everyone and bring them all back. It had to be done." She looked at them with tears she wouldn't let fall shining in her eyes. They knew she wasn't changing her mind.

When they did let go she forced them to. She had activated her widow bites earlier just in case and stunned them both. They let go in their shock and she dropped. And dropped. And dropped. And then she felt nothing.

**2023**

Tony and Clint came back. They were noticeably upset and they wouldn't look at anyone. However, everyone realized that one member had not come back. Everyone except Steve, who had yet to come back into the room after having gone to change James.

He came walking back with the baby in his arms.

"Did you hear that? That means your mommy is back. Let's go meet her yeah?" He talked to his son while he walked them to the machine. That was when he realized his wife was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Nat?"

"She didn't make it."

"What do you mean she didn't make it? There shouldn't have been a reason for anything to go wrong." Steve was confused and he kept looking around hoping that she'd just pop back into the room. Maybe she was just late?

"In order to get soul stone a sacrifice was required." Clint said as he angrily scuffed his shoe.

"There was nothing about in what we heard from Nebula." Bruce didn't understand still.

"Nat knew somehow. She didn't tell us because she knew we'd keep her from going. She did it save everyone Steve."

"She knew… When she left, she knew? She just sacrificed herself." Steve kept muttering the same thing over and over again.

"Steve?"

"She's gone…" he turned and walked out after handing James to Tony.

Notes: I promise Nat will not stay dead. Because my heart broken in two when I watched Endgame and this is my fix-it. I wanted to keep her death but do it differently and maybe do her justice. Unlike in the movie. Next up: the reverse snap the battle. I am also on Archive of Our Own as Sheistheblackwidow.

увидимся через минуту моя детка"= see you in a minute my babe.*


	2. Avenging the Fallen

They get the stones, mourn Natasha and get everyone back. Then they battle Thanos and his army of genocidal freaks. Also Nat meets someome in the soulstone.

They stared after him.

"Guys, what happened there?" Bruce asked.

"Everything went wrong. The soul stone, it required a sacrifice. A soul for a soul. Nat, She knew somehow or at least suspected. We tried to stop her. We did. She…" Tony trailed off trying to find words to make sense of what had happened. He still held little James as he whimpered and bunched his shirt in his little fists.

Clint had left the room. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold it together. It was supposed to be him. She had done so much and all he'd done was go on a murdering rampage. She had been right here for five years trying to find a way to get those they lost back. She had spent five years building and caring for that orphanage because she believed those kids had deserved someone who cared with their parents gone. She kept going, kept trying to be better even though everyone was gone. He'd given up and turned away from the cause, from the good in the world.

While Steve was still locked away the others had figured out how to use the stones and created the gauntlet to hold it. Bruce snapped his fingers and suddenly everything was alive again.

The birds appeared and started singing, the people who'd disappeared in the streets were back and now confused but at least they were back. The phones were ringing off the hook. Friends and family calling to make sure everyone was back and okay. At least they were back.

Unfortunately they'd discovered the Nebula that came back wasn't their Nebula but instead an older version of her and she had betrayed them and let Thanos know how to come to their time. She had also stolen and given the gauntlet to Thanos. He'd come and destroyed the compound and had threatened to this time eradicate all life in the known universe. That had been the last straw and that had made Steve rejoin the land of the living and reassemble the team.

"Nat sacrificed herself for this. There is no way I'm letting this purple saggy nutted freak destroy it. Call everyone you can. It's time to kick some ass."

Thankfully during the fight between the five of them left, Strange and his wizards had gotten their message and as the portals opened letting out fellow Avengers and anyone who could help. Things were not going their way and they needed all the help they could get.

The Guardians, the entire Wakandan army led by T'challa and Okoye, Bucky, Sam, Wanda, Valkyrie, Spiderman, Hope and her parents, Ant Man came flying out the destroyed compound and still more came and they kept coming.

"Is that all?" "What? You wanted MORE?!" They stood ready to assemble on Captain America's call. Steve looked around him and called Mjolnir to him. It flew into his hand and he looked again and then looked at Thanos.

"AVENGERS…….. _ASSEMBLE_!" And assemble they did.They charged at Thanos and his army.

Wanda was merciless. She had been told of Nat's death and hadn't taken it well. On top of that, she was still distraught over Vision's death and this just added to it. She marched up to Thanos and stared him down.

"You took everything from me."

"I don't even know who you are." At that, she smirked.

"_You will_." She rose from the ground in a flash of fiery red, unleashing a boatload of fury, so much Thanos and his army cowered underneath her power and had to call for backup.

They managed to get the glove back with some help from Captain Marvel who'd shown up just in time. They managed to get the gauntlet back from him however they had almost lost Tony. It was a miracle he was able to contain all the radiation.

Bruce had spent hours after the fight trying to bring Nat back. "I tried to bring her back and nothing happened." He finally had to admit defeat and sighed sitting down.

Tony on the other hand hadn't given up on bringing Natasha back. He was going to give his nephew back his mother and his friend back his wife. He just hasn't figured out how yet. Well, he had but as he wasn't sure it'd work, he hadn't told anyone yet. He was sure if they returned the stone back to 2014 they could get her back but since they were out if Pym particles, he would have to use Wanda. She could gather enough power the machine. She just needed to be convinced.

Clint was still tore up from having lost Natasha that he wasn't even certain he wanted to get involved in the fight. He had decided it'd be better for him to just go home. He'd been without his family for five years and didn't want to waste another second. His heart broke when he had to tell his children that their Auntie Nat was gone and wasn't ever coming back. Lila had burst into tears and run up to her room and had stayed there. She was the closest to Nat and the one that suffered the most with knowing what had happened. They only were able to coax her out when they told her they would have a funeral for Natasha.

_It should have been me._

_When she hit the ground all she felt was white hot pain and then nothing. But she woke up and the sky was yellow and she wasn't alone. A woman with green skin and purple hair was standing staring at her.__"You too huh? Who sacrificed you?" She asked curiously.__Nat was sure she knew this woman. Or of her at least. Oh wait- "You're Gamora?"__"You didn't answer my question."__"I did. It was between me and two others and for the fate of the universe. I sacrificed myself so they wouldn't have to." She hated the thought of not going back home to her child but it had to be done. She had done her part. She wasn't needed anymore.__"Yes, I am Gamora. My father, Thanos sacrificed me so he could get the stone. The thing he loved most he threw down to die." She looked down and played with her nails. She should've gone right. She should've listened to him.__"Where are we? I thought I had died." This didn't look like death to her. It wasn't dark, it wasn't hell, it certainly wasn't HEAVEN- like she'd even be allowed there.__"We're in the souls stone. When you are sacrificed you get taken by it and you're stuck. I've tried to get out and there's no way unless someone comes back to exchange it. And no one ever comes back to exchange it." Gamora had tried, she had tried a lot and she just wanted to die. To really die because it'd be better than being stuck in a stone for all eternity.__"So if we're stuck in the stone that means we aren't truly dead? And it means that my friends have the stone with them. Maybe we could communicate with them then?"__"How would we do it though?"__They never actually said how this all worked. All Red Skull had said was the stone needed a sacrifice. And She gave it one. Maybe if they could somehow get a message back to the others, they could figure out a way to bring them back. They set off to do just that..._

Notes:

_So Nat meets Gamora and they decide to be BAMF's because that's what they are anyway and they would certainly not just sit and wait around. I also wanted Wanda to be apart of bringing Nat back because I believed she deserved more air time. I mean she was so powerful, Thanos had to call for backup. I thought that maybe if she could get powered enough she could turn back the time herself. Doctor Strange no longer had the time stone which meant he couldn't do it. I also believe Wanda and Natasha had such a good friendship that we didn't get to see because they refused to make the characters more in-depth. Also I don't actually care about canon and it being compliant with the movie and that shut because canon and compliance killed Nat and Tony. And erased Natasha's character arc. And made Steve's arc dissipate also. So now I have to recreate it. And there's my anti Russo rant for the day._


	3. Returning the Stones: The Plan

Returning the Stones: We're ready

Author's note:

_Hope you guys like this one!!! I tried hard with this one. There's some little James in there for ya!_

*

_Natasha and Gamora had spent the better part of two weeks (though it seemed like only hours inside the stone but they knew. Gamora had figured out how time went by) trying to figure out a way to escape the stone. They had tried sending messages but getting it out proved to be as hard as it sounded._

**Wanda's POV**

I sat watching Steve play with James. The boy was still asking for his mother not understanding that she was gone. Steve had become withdrawn and dedicated to his son. He wanted to make sure he never forgot his mother. Neither had fully accepted the fact she was gone. I still didn't believe it. I knew but there was no way it was permanent. She couldn't be gone. She was always there and promised that she'd always be there. I understood why she did what she did but I'm still just so angry and heartbroken that she chose to die and not be there when I got back.

"Hey Wanda! Come play with me and the sailboats!" James was waving his tiny sailboat Clint had fashioned from wood last week. The man had felt guilty (still did) for coming back when Nat didn't. They all felt guilty. She got up and put on a forced smile.

Flashing Steve a sympathetic one she picked up the energetic boy and swung him around leading him to the edge of the pond. There they sat and watched as they put the boat in the water and as it sailed across the glimmering water. She smiled at the boy with eyes like his mother. She almost couldn't look at them but she wanted him to be happy. They would race to the other side to retrieve it when it finally reached land.

Her phone buzzed and she saw it was a text from Tony but she ignored it for the time being as brought her attention back to the redheaded boy next to her still staring at the boat. When it buzzed again, she groaned and finally turned it over and swiped it open.

_Can we meet? I have something important to talk to you about. Regarding Nat._ What? What did he have to tell her about Nat? She knew he had been stuck in his lab all day with Banner and that both hadn't given up on the idea that they could possibly bring Natasha back. She didn't want to think about because if it didn't work and she got her hopes up, she didn't know what shed do. She couldn't take anymore hope.

The phone buzzed again, _Please, it said. I promise it seems more likely that we'll be able to do it. Banner has finally gotten the final piece of the puzzle and we want to see if you could come down so we could talk more about it. We'll need you and your powers to help._ Damn.

Well… I guess he isn't gonna stop texting if I don't come down. _Okay fine Stark. You win this round._

She texted him back, _5 minutes. With James watching his sailboat. Will be there._ She stayed just long enough to watch and race with the boy to the other side and then carried him and his boat back to Steve and the others. Then she turned towards the house and entered.

Upon entering she saw that it was a mess. An absolute mess and the two geniuses didn't seem to have sensed her presence yet.

"We have it Banner! We can get her back! What are you waiting for?!" Tony was yelling. Bruce on the other hand held something on his hand. It emitted a blue light and he was waving it around.

"What if it doesn't work?! Then what? We'll be giving them hope only to just fail them again."

She let them know of her presence then. "And if you don't even try? Then what? We should at least try right even though I agree with the whole giving people false hope thing. It makes sense to be wary but still. We could save her, bring her back. Lets at least try. For James and Steve." She didn't want to be let down but she knew they couldn't just sit around and do nothing when they could try. She just hoped it worked this time.

Two days later

*

Wanda was sick of holding in this secret. They had found a sure fire way to get Nat back. They'd also somehow gotten a message from the stone. It had just shone on the stone itself and Bruce had to enlarge the image in order for them to see it. It was from Natasha and some girl named Gamora. She knew that name, knew it was that girl Star Lord spoke of losing when Thanos took her and sacrificed her for the soul stone. They were both still in the stone which meant they weren't dead just merely misplaced. They could get them out.

*

Tony woke up with a start, an almost silent beeping in the background and felt around for the source. Slapping his hand down he checked the time. 4:30 4:30 AM. He had set it the evening before so he'd have time to get ready for the dry run. He only hoped it would work. He sent a wake up text to his cohorts and went to gather his things for the shower.

**Wanda's POV**

The beeping that she knew as a text message alert had sounded and in her dream induced haze she swiped and settled back into her scarlet swirled filled dream. It could wait…

**Bruce's POV**

He was already awake and in the lab by the time he got the text from Tony. While he knew she harbored no feelings him, and it even though it had hurt when she and Steve became an item, he knew they needed to get her home. It was the most he could do after how he had acted.

*

It was time for the testing. Wanda had finally showed up after having reluctantly dragged herself out of bed. "Okay! Okay! Sorry! But did it really have to be so early? Ugh, nevermind. So are we ready to do this?" She still wasn't as confident in their plan as the other two were. The only reason she'd agreed was because she knew that Natasha had bet her life on this and had left behind her family in order to get those who'd been snapped back. And Wanda had been one of those people and that meant that she _OWED_ the older woman her life. That's why she was doing this. Nat gave everything, the least they could do was try to give it all back to her.

"We are ready. At least for the test. It should only take 10 seconds from the time we all leave to the time we come back. Tony, you will have to take the route you and Steve took and then go to New York then New Jersey to return them all. And _please don't talk to anyone again._ You guys really could've screwed some stuff up. I will be heading to Morag and Asgard, Wanda, you will be the one returning the soul stone. If there is no way to reverse Nat's death then you do what we agreed on. Because she WILL be coming back.You still okay with that?"

"Of course." She was okay with it if it meant getting her friend back home. She only hoped she wouldn't have to.

"Okay. Now, remember we may come into contact with our old selves teammates from when we went back before. Tony this means you will need to stay hidden. Also Tony, you will go first." Tony nodded and took a step onto the platform closing his helmet.

"3,2,1" and he was gone. "Wanda?"

"Ready when you are." They had to set it to autopilot and once it was ready they both took a step and turned the dials.

"3,2,1. See you back in 10." She smirked at him and was gone.

*

Okay, so I am actually working on three other stories (all Romanogers related because of course:) and once I start adding to one I get ideas for one of the others. I also do have the next chapter for this more than halfway done (if I had sfuck fo my 1,000 word limit it would be done and uploaded). I will try to upload tomorrow or the day after. 


	4. Bringing them back

They stared after him.

"Guys, what happened there?" Bruce asked.

"Everything went wrong. The soul stone, it required a sacrifice. A soul for a soul. Nat, She knew somehow or at least suspected. We tried to stop her. We did. She…" Tony trailed off trying to find words to make sense of what had happened. He still held little James as he whimpered and bunched his shirt in his little fists.

Clint had left the room. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold it together. It was supposed to be him. She had done so much and all he'd done was go on a murdering rampage. She had been right here for five years trying to find a way to get those they lost back. She had spent five years building and caring for that orphanage because she believed those kids had deserved someone who cared with their parents gone. She kept going, kept trying to be better even though everyone was gone. He'd given up and turned away from the cause, from the good in the world.

While Steve was still locked away the others had figured out how to use the stones and created the gauntlet to hold it. Bruce snapped his fingers and suddenly everything was alive again.

Steve came down that same day and while he was glad everyone had been brought back he still couldn't help but feel like she should've been there. (Because she should've been.)

The birds appeared and started singing, the people who'd disappeared in the streets were back and now confused but at least they were back. The phones were ringing off the hook. Friends and family calling to make sure everyone was back and okay. At least they were back.

Unfortunately they'd discovered the Nebula that came back wasn't their Nebula but instead an older version of her and she had betrayed them and let Thanos know how to come to their time. She had also stolen and given the gauntlet to Thanos. He'd come and destroyed the compound and had threatened to this time eradicate all life in the known universe. That had been the last straw and that had made Steve rejoin the land of the living and reassemble the team.

"Nat sacrificed herself for this. There is no way I'm letting this purple saggy nutted freak destroy it. Call everyone you can. It's time to kick some ass."

Thankfully during the fight between the five of them left, Strange and his wizards had gotten their message and as the portals opened letting out fellow Avengers and anyone who could help. Things were not going their way and they needed all the help they could get. The Guardians, the entire Wakandan army led by T'challa and Okoye, Bucky, Sam, Wanda, Valkyrie, Spiderman, Hope and her parents, Ant Man came flying out the destroyed compound and still more came and they kept coming.

"Is that all?"

"What? You wanted MORE?!"

They stood ready to assemble on Captain America's call.

Steve looked around him and called Mijnoir to him. It flew into his hand and he looked again and then looked at Thanos.

"AVENGERS…….. ASSEMBLE!" And assemble they did. They charged at Thanos and his army.

Wanda was merciless. She had been told of Nat's death and hadn't taken it well. On top of that, she was still distraught over Vision's death and this just added to it. She marched up to Thanos and stared him down.

"You took everything from me.

"I don't even know who you are." At that, she smirked.

"You will." She unleashed a boatload of fury, so much Thanos and his army cowered underneath her power and had to call for backup. They managed to get the glove back with some help from Captain Marvel who'd shown up just in time. They managed to get the gauntlet back from him however they had almost lost Tony. It was a miracle he was able to contain all the radiation.

Bruce had spent hours after the fight trying to bring Nat back. "I tried to bring her back and nothing happened."

Tony on the other hand hadn't given up on bringing Natasha back. He was going to give his nephew back his mother and his friend back his wife. He just hasn't figured out how yet. Well, he had but as he wasn't sure it'd work, he hadn't told anyone yet. He was sure if they returned the stone back to 2014 they could get her back but since they were out if Pym particles, he would have to use Wanda. She could gather enough power the machine. She just needed to be convinced.

Clint was still tore up from having lost Natasha that he wasn't even certain he wanted to get involved in the fight. He had decided it'd be better for him to just go home. He'd been without his family for five years and didn't want to waste another second. His heart broke when he had to tell his children that their Auntie Nat was gone and wasn't ever coming back. Lila had burst into tears and run up to her room and had stayed there. She was the closest to Nat and the one that suffered the most with knowing what had happened. They only were able to coax her out when they told her they would have a funeral for Natasha.

It should have been me.

When she hit the ground all she felt was white hot pain and then nothing. But she woke up and the sky was yellow and she wasn't alone. A woman with green skin and purple hair was standing staring at her.

"You too huh? Who sacrificed you?" She asked curiously.

Nat was sure she knew this woman. Or of her at least. Oh wait- "You're Gamora?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"I did. It was between me and two others and for the fate of the universe. I sacrificed myself so they wouldn't have to." She hated the thought of not going back home to her child but it had to be done. She had done her part. She wasn't needed anymore.

"Yes, I am Gamora. My father, Thanos sacrificed me so he could get the stone. The thing he loved most he threw down to die." She looked down and played with her nails. She should've gone right. She should've listened to him.

"Where are we? I thought I had died." This didn't look like death to her. It wasn't dark, it wasn't hell, it certainly wasn't HEAVEN- like she'd even be allowed there.

"We're in the souls stone. When you are sacrificed you get taken by it and you're stuck. I've tried to get out and there's no way unless someone comes back to exchange it. And no one ever comes back to exchange it." Gamora had tried, she had tried a lot and she just wanted to die. To really die because it'd be better than being stuck in a stone for all eternity.

"So if we're stuck in the stone that means we aren't truly dead? And it means that my friends have the stone with them. Maybe we could communicate with them then?"

"How would we do it though?"

They never actually said how this all worked. All Red Skull had said was the stone needed a sacrifice. And She gave it one. Maybe if they could somehow get a message back to the others, they could figure out a way to bring them back. They set off to do just that...

So Nat meets Gamora and they decide to be BAMF because that's what they are anyway and they would certainly not just sit and wait around. I also wanted Wanda to be apart of bringing Nat back because I believed she deserved more air time. I mean she was so powerful, Thanos had to call for backup. I thought that maybe if she could get powered enough she could turn back the time herself. Doctor Strange no longer had the time stone which meant he couldn't do it. I also believe Wanda and Natasha had such a good friendship that we didn't get to see because they refused to make the characters more in-depth. Also I don't actually care about canon and it being compliant with the movie and that shut because canon and compliance killed Nat and Tony. And erased Natasha's character arc. And made Steve's arc dissipate also. So now I have to recreate it. And there's my anti Russo rant for the day.

Chapter 3

Natasha and Gamora had spent the better part of two weeks (though it seemed like only minutes inside the stone but they knew) trying to figure out a way to escape the stone. They had tried sending messages but getting it out proved to be as hard as it sounded.

Wanda's POV

I sat watching Steve play with James. The boy was still asking for his mother not understanding that she was gone. I still didn't believe it. I knew but there was no way it was permanent. She couldn't be gone. She was always there and promised that she'd always be there. I understood why she did what she did but I'm still just so angry and heartbroken that she chose to die and not be there when I got back.

"Hey Wanda! Come play with me and the sailboats!" James was waving his tiny sailboat Clint had fashioned from wood last week. The man felt guilty for coming back when Nat didn't. They all felt guilty.

She got up and put on a forced smile. Flashing Steve a sympathetic one she picked up the energetic boy and swung him around leading him to the edge of the pond. There they sat and watched as They put the boat in the water and as it sailed across the glimmering water. They would race to the other side to retrieve it when it finally reached land.

Her phone buzzed and she saw it was a text from Tony but she ignored it for the time being as brought her attention back to the redheaded boy next to her still staring at the boat. When it buzzed again, she groaned and finally turned it over and swiped it open.

Can we meet? I have something important to talk to you about. Regarding Nat.

What? What did he have to tell her about Nat? She knew he had been stuck in his lab all day with Banner and that both hadn't given up on the idea that they could possibly bring Natasha back. She didn't want to think about because if it didn't work and she got her hopes up, she didn't know what shed do. She couldn't take anymore hope.

The phone buzzed again, Please, it said. I promise it seems more likely that we'll be able to do it. Banner has finally gotten the final piece of the puzzle and we want to see if you could come down so we could talk more about it. We'll need you and your powers to help.

Well… I guess he isn't gonna stop texting if I don't come down. Okay finally Stark. You win this round.

She texted him back, 5 minutes. With James watching his sailboat. Will be there.

She stayed just long enough to watch and race with the boy to the other side and then carried him and back to Steve and the others. Then she turned towards the house and entered.

Upon entering she saw that it was a mess. An absolute mess and the two geniuses didn't seem to have sensed her presence yet.

"We have it Banner! We can get her back! What are you waiting for?!" Tony was yelling. Bruce on the other hand held something on his hand. It emitted a blue light and he was waving it around. "What if it doesn't work?! Then what? We'll be giving them hope only to just fail them again."

She let them know of her presence then. "And if you don't even try? Then what? We should at least try right even though I agree with the whole giving people false hope thing. It makes sense to be wary but still. We could save her, bring her back. Lets at least try. For James and Steve." She didn't want to be let down but she knew they couldn't just sit around and do nothing when they could try. She just hoped it worked this time.

Two days later

Wanda was sick of holding in this secret. They had found a sure fire way to get Nat back. They'd also somehow gotten a message from the stone. It had just shone on the stone itself and Bruce had to enlarge the image in order for them to see it. It was from Natasha and some girl named Gamora. She knew that name, knew it was that girl Star Lord spoke of losing when Thanos took her and sacrificed her for the soul stone. They were both still in the stone which meant they weren't dead just merely misplaced. They could get them out.

Tony woke up with a start, an almost silent beeping in the background and felt around for the source. Slapping his hand down he checked the time.

4:30

4:30 AM. He had set it the evening before so he'd have time to get ready for the dry run. He only hoped it would work. He sent a wake up text to his cohorts and went to gather his things for the shower.

Wanda's POV

The beeping that she knew as a text message alert had sounded and in her dream induced haze she swiped and settled back into her scarlet swirled filled dream.

It could wait…

Bruce's POV

He was already awake and in the lab by the time he got the text from Tony. While he knew she harbored no feelings him, and it even though it had hurt when she and Steve became an item, he knew they needed to get her home. It was the most he could do after how he had acted.

It was time for the testing. Wanda had finally showed up after having reluctantly dragged herself out of bed.

"Okay! Okay! Sorry! But did it really have to be so early? Ugh, nevermind. So are we ready to do this?" She still wasn't as confident in their plan as the other two were. The reason she'd agreed was because Natasha had bet her life on this and had left behind her family in order to get those who'd been Snapped back. And Wanda had been one of those people and she owed the older woman her life. That's why she was doing this. Nat gave everything, the least they could do was try to give it all back to her.

"We are ready. At least for the test. It should only take 10 seconds from the time we all leave to the time we come back. Tony, you will have to take the route you and Steve took and then go to New York then New Jersey to return them all. And please don't talk to anyone again. You guys really could've screwed some stuff up. I will be heading to Morag and Asgard, Wanda, you will be the one returning the soul stone. If there is no way to reverse Nat's death then you do what we agreed on. Because she WILL be coming back.You still okay with that?"

"Of course." She was okay with it if it meant getting her friend back home. She only hoped she wouldn't have to.

"Okay. Now, remember we may come into contact with your teammates from when we went back before. Tony this means you will need to stay hidden. Also Tony, you will go first."

Tony nodded and took a step onto the platform closing his helmet.

"3,2,1" and he was gone.

"Wanda?"

"Ready when you are." They had to set it to autopilot and once it was ready they both took a step and turned the dials.

"3,2,1. See you back in 10." She smirked at him and was gone.

New York 2012…

So now there were 2 Hulks in New York City at one time. And one of them was just smashing everything in its path.

He found out it was harder than he had thought it'd be to stay out of sight of his previous self. It was much, much harder.

When we get back we've really got to talk to Bru- the Hulk about this. Also, maybe all the avengers? They really do make a mess of things even while saving millions. I kind of get why people are concerned about us. I mean I did create a robot bent on eradicating humanity. So… yeah.

He continued hiding until he was sure both sets of teams were away. Now to just get the

Asgard 2012…

Why was it so hard to do this? He had literally hid from Thor way too many times. He definitely knew he was there. There was no way he didn't. Stupid God of Thunder.

The clamoring alerted him that his presence had most likely been noticed and unfortunately, he wasn't the only one hiding. Thor and the racoon, their Thor, were also hiding which meant there were only so many places he could hide out.

Morag 2015…

Why were all these other planets so dark and dreary?

Bruce trudged on mindful of the fact Rhodey and Nebula were also on the same planet at the same time. He heard music blasting from another direction and went to seek out the source.

Oh great, he must be that idiot they were telling them about.

He'd been told he'd be the only other person to be able to get the tesseract without burning up.

Here it goes.

Vormir 2014…

Wanda landed on her knees on the cold hard stony land of Vormir and took a deep breath. Okay, here goes nothing. She followed the path to the mountains in the center of the planet.

New York 2012

Why the hell did he just see Cap fighting another Cap? That's just weird. When did that even happen and why didn't he tell anyone about it?

"That is America's ass." Wow. Honestly, he was joking. Spangles is crazy and slightly extremely self absorbed. And they all claim I'm the conceited one.

Vormir 2014...

She didn't have much time before she had told get back and she hadn't yet reached the jagged mountain.

When she finally did she was met by a cloaked figure- the Red Skull.

Oh that's right. It was one of the reasons Steve wasn't told about this plan. They weren't sure how he'd take it.

"I've come to bring back the stone." Her voice wavered as she realized this is where Nat died. Where she fell (jumped) off the cliff. She didn't want to but she was tempted to look over and see if she was still there.

"Oh, but that's not all you came for is it? You want something- no, something back? Wait- two someones?" Red Skull was obviously giddy with joy as he realized what she really came for.

"Yes. So how do I get them back?" She wasn't leaving without them. That wasn't the plan.

"A soul for a soul. There's no take backs. You're foolish to even think that. There's no reversal for this. Foolish child." He laughed at her not seeing the red tint appear in her eyes.

She however wasn't staring at him but had moved closer to the cliff and was now staring down. She had to see. And she did. She saw her, red hair with blonde tips, body bent at such a weird angle she had to wince and her stomach churned. She also saw the pool of something dark around her head. A halo of death. And there was a second figure. A a woman of green and purple. They had said they were fine but stuck in the stone. But she could see them and they weren't fine.

"How do you know if no one's ever tried it before? You don't. You won't get the stone back until you give them back." she wasn't returning alone.

"I am telling you woman, this thing you want to try, it will not work. Your friends were before and they were trying their best to claim there had to be another way. There wasn't and as you know, someone had to die. There wasn't a another way then and there isn't now. Give the stone back."

So she did. However she was ready for plan B in case plan A it didn't work. She held her hand over the gauge and let it fall open watching as the stone fell and dropped. She only hoped it had worked.


End file.
